Yes, once the mainnet is launched we will announce a token swap during which the ERC-20 IOST will be converted to our native coin. We are working with exchanges and wallets to ensure the swap goes smoothly. Don’t worry, we will provide an ample amount of time to ensure everyone is able to complete the exchange.

How did you raise your funds?

We did not conduct an ICO, we raised our money via a hard-capped 35,000 Ether private sale from 30+ regular institutional investors (including Sequoia China, ZhenFund, Jingwei China, FBG, INBlockchain, etc.). The private sale ended on January 3, 2018. We plan to use 100% of the funds for the IOST project and IOST related ecosystem development.

What is the total supply? What is the circulating supply?

The total fixed supply is 21 billion IOST. The circulating supply is 62.31% of the total supply, which is 13.086 billion IOST. This is different from the amount incorrectly listed on CoinMarketCap, which has the circulating supply listed at 12.03 billion IOST.

2.69% [non-circulating] — Community Building (reduced from 12.5% through community building initiatives throughout 2018)

Is there a token lock up for IOST?

The IOS Foundation officially announced on April 9, 2018 that all 35% of the tokens reserved for the Foundation were put into an escrow account for lock-up until a new development plan is announced following the launch of the our mainnet.

Until we launch our mainnet, IOST is an ERC-20 token, meaning that it can be stored in any ERC-20 compatible wallet. Please check the wallet provider’s support information to ensure that the wallet you use can store and manage IOST’s ERC-20 token.

If your wallet application has not yet listed IOST. You can lookup your tokens balance via the IOST smart contract:

Contract Address: 0xfa1a856cfa3409cfa145fa4e20eb270df3eb21ab

Decimals: 18

Symbol: IOST

Do you recommend any wallets?

No, we do not officially endorse or recommend any wallets. Please research which wallet works best for your circumstances.

Will you be making an IOST wallet?

Yes, we will release a wallet before launching our mainnet.

What is the staking process? How many coins will you need in order to stake?

We have not yet released the staking specifics. We will publish a full explanation of our tokenomic logic closer to the launch of our mainnet.

Will there be an economic/technical whitepaper released in the future?

Due to the nature of developing a new technology, we will be rewriting our whitepaper to encompass any changes made to our economic model, technology or strategic vision for IOST. The newer version will be released closer to the launch of our mainnet and will provide a more technical explanation of our ecosystem.

Which programming languages does IOST support for smart contract development?

Lua; however, we will be migrating to Javascript (09.2018).

Can I get IOST through mining?

No, our network does not support mining, because it uses a separate validation method known as “Proof of Believability”. However, nodes on the network will receive other incentives – the specifics of these incentives will be announced before the launch of our mainnet.

How can I get in touch with the IOST team?

The IOST team recently began a series of community events in Europe, for more information, visit our meetup page. We are working to organize similar events across the globe.

You can contact us at team@iost.io

Is there a way I can organize a meetup in my area or school?

Yes, we have an IOST ambassador program. For more information about our ambassador program read this Medium post.

Glossary

We created this Cryptocurrency Glossary so that those in our community with a desire to learn more about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have a resource to explain many of the technical terms used in the industry. Although we do feel we have covered many of the basics,if you feel we missed some please comment and we will add them. Similarly, if you need help with any of the terms please reach out and we will do our best to help.

51% AttackA malicious attack which can take place if one person or group of people control 51% or more of the hashing power on a network

Address

Cryptocurrency addresses are used to send and receive transactions on a blockchain network. They are created using a hash of the private key.

ASIC

Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) is essentially a computer chip optimized to perform a set of tasks, like mining Bitcoin.

BitcoinBitcoin was designed by the anonymous programmer Satoshi Nakamoto. It is the first decentralized, trustless, secure blockchain-based money.

BlockBlocks contain the permanent data that is recorded onto the blockchain.

Blockchain

A blockchain is a distributed ledger where transactions and states are recorded permanently in blocks. It is a historical record of all transactions on the blockchain since it began with the genesis block.

Block Explorer

Block explorer is an online tool which allows you to explore any blockchain’s transactions and accounts.

Block Height

The number of blocks in a blockchain.

Block RewardThe incentive for miners to use their hashing power to verify transactions on a network. The reward varies across different blockchains.

Central Ledger

A centralized ledger is held by a central organization. Ex: a bank

ConfirmationConfirmation occurs when a transaction is successfully hashed and added to the blockchain.

Consensus

Consensus occurs when all participants on a network agree on the validity of a transactions on the blockchain.

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and IOST, are currencies which use a blockchain to maintain a decentralized and immutable copy of all transactions.

DappA decentralized application is an application which runs on top of a blockchain. A good example is the game Crypto Heroes.

DAODecentralised Autonomous Organizations are organizations whose rules are hardcoded into the blockchain.

Distributed LedgerDistributed ledgers are distributed across all nodes on the blockchain network.

Distributed Network

A distributed network is when the processing power on a network is distributed across the nodes on a network and is not centralized in one data center.

DifficultyThe difficulty of a proof of work network is adjusted to compensate for an increase or decrease in the amount of computational power on a network.

Double SpendingA problem that early digital currency faced, which is the ability to copy and use funds more than once.

ForkForks create an alternative version of the blockchain. It commonly occurs when consensus cannot be met on a proposed update. In this case, one group updates to the new protocol and one group does not, therefore creating two blockchains.

Genesis BlockThe first block in a blockchain.

Hard Fork

A hard fork, as it relates to blockchain technology, is a radical change to the protocol that makes previously invalid blocks/transactions valid (or vice-versa). This requires all nodes or users to upgrade to the latest version of the protocol software.

Hardware WalletA hardware wallet is a specifically designed piece of hardware that stores a users private keys.

Hash RateHash rate is the measurement of the total computational power a miner contributes to a blockchain network.

MiningMining is the process by which transactions are verified and added to the public ledger, known as the blockchain, and also the means through which new Bitcoin are released. Anyone with access to the internet and suitable hardware can participate in mining.

Multi-Signature Addresses Two keys are required to open a multi-signature account, this is used to enhance security or to create an escrow account.

Node

Any computer that connects to the Bitcoin network is called a node.

Paper WalletA paper wallet is a print out of a users private keys, which can then be stored offline and safe from malicious actors.

Public Address

A public address is safe to share with the public. It is used to send and receive cryptocurrency.

Private KeyA private key is not safe to share with the public and should never be shared with anyone. It is the address that controls access to your cryptocurrency.

Proof of BelievabilityDesigned by IOST, it is a Byzantine consensus protocol with a Believable-First approach that guarantees the safety and liveness of the system while largely maximizing the transaction throughput by size-one-shard. It is an improvement on the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism that fixes known PoS vulnerabilities. Visit the IOST whitepaper for a more detailed description.

Proof of StakeProof of Stake concept states that a person can mine or validate block transactions according to how many coins he or she holds. This means that the more cryptocurrency owned by a miner, the more mining power they have.

Proof of WorkA proof-of-work (PoW) system is an economic measure to deter denial of service attacks and other service abuses such as spam on a network by requiring some work from the service requester, usually meaning processing time by a computer.

ScryptScrypt is type of Proof of Work protocol which is much easier to run on an already-existing CPU, and tends to use up less energy than using SHA-256; as a result, it’s favored by most individual miners. It is ASIC resistant.

SHA-256The name of the cryptographic hash function used by bitcoin. It’s been subsequently used by a number of altcoins too.

Smart ContractsA smart contract is a computer protocol used to digitally facilitate, verify, or enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract which is hardcoded into a file that is run on a blockchain, making the contract immutable. Advanced forms of smart contracts are often called decentralized applications (dapps).

Soft ForkA soft fork is implemented when a seemingly minor change is made to the blockchain network, where the miners agree and update to the new protocols.

Software WalletA piece of software that stores a users private keys.

Testnet

A testnet is a safe environment for cryptocurrency developers to test out their network before the mainnet launch. It is also used by developers to test dapps and smart contracts prior to launching them on the mainnet.

Transaction FeeThe fee incurred when processing a transaction on the blockchain.

Turing CompleteIf a machine is capable of performing all possible calculations, then it is Turing complete.

WalletA wallet is a means to store private keys of cryptocurrency accounts.